Mike Greenlar/The Post-StandardA small group of people stand outside the 204 W. Roswell Ave. house in Nedrow on Sunday as state police investigate the apparent drug overdose death of 13-year-old Matt Kappelmeier. Kappelmeier, who lived on Chaffee Avenue, ingested the painkiller OxyContin on Saturday, according to friends. He was found dead Sunday morning in the rear yard of his friend's home.

Nedrow, NY - Thirteen-year-old Matt Kappelmeier spent his final weekend before school started at the state fair and hanging out in Nedrow with friends.

Around midnight Saturday, the Syracuse boy left a friend’s house, planning to walk home.

But about 12 hours later, Kappelmeier’s friend found him still outside his home, dead on a bench in the backyard, state police Sgt. Susan Lockyer said.

Kappelmeier — who had ingested the painkiller OxyContin on Saturday, according to friends — died of a possible accidental drug overdose sometime Sunday morning, just days before he was to start eighth grade at Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High School, Lockyer said.

Within minutes, a crowd including many teenagers began gathering there as police began their investigation. Tillich and several other teenagers hugged and cried as Kappelmeier’s body was carried to a TLC ambulance in front.

“This is the worst experience of my life other than losing my grandmother because he was a really good friend,” 14-year-old Haley Faith said, trying to hold back tears. “I hope this tells people not to do drugs and this is what can happen if you do.”

Lockyer said police found no evidence of trauma or foul play when they arrived. Police are continuing to investigate how Kappelmeier obtained the OxyContin.

View full sizeSubmitted photoMatt Kappelmeier

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed today. Toxicology tests also will be completed, Lockyer said.

Unintentional drug poisoning deaths are on the rise nationwide. A Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a 62.5 percent increase in such deaths in the United States from 1999 to 2004.

Dr. Christine Stork, a clinical toxicologist at the Upstate New York Poison Center, said OxyContin is powerful narcotic prescribed to treat severe pain. Doctors often prescribe it for cancer patients. But, she said, many people, including youth, abuse the drug because it makes them feel good. However, it has the same pharmacology as heroin, in terms of how it works, Stork said.

“It causes a depressed mental status, or sleepiness,” she said. “As you take more and more, you’re going to get comatose.”

OxyContin can suppress the respiratory drive and a person can stop breathing, Stork said. “Generally they die from respiratory arrest,” she said.

Stork said it’s not surprising for a 13-year-old to have taken OxyContin.

“What the younger teens are doing is raiding home medicine cabinets,” she said, speaking in general. “Tweens are abusing things they can get their hands on.”

One of Kappelmeier’s friends, 14-year-old Kaleika Trotman, who is also entering eighth grade at Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High, said Kappelmeier had ingested OxyContin on other occasions. Trotman said she spent most of Saturday hanging out in Nedrow and at Meachem Park with Kappelmeier, Tillich and other teens.

“Matt was doing OxyContin,” Trotman said. “He did a lot. But he was feeling fine.”

She said Kappelmeier and Tillich left her Nedrow home at about 10 p.m.

Lockyer said that Tillich told police that Kappelmeier left his home sometime after midnight. Tillich walked Kappelmeier outside, then he went back inside and fell asleep. Tillich told police that Kappelmeier had planned to walk home, Lockyer said.

On Sunday, friends recalled Kappelmeier as a friendly, fun friend.

“He was really funny. He told the funniest jokes and he made everyone laugh,” Faith said. “He wasn’t mean to anyone. He was really sweet.”

Faith and Elizabeth “Page” Hall, both entering ninth grade at Onondaga Central, went to the state fair with Kappelmeier on Friday night. They played lots of games, but Kappelmeier was the only one in the group to win a prize — a “Family Guy” character Stewie Griffin plush doll from a water gun shooting booth. Kappelmeier also ate lots of food — as usual, his friends said.

Faith’s mother, Natalie Magruder, said she walked about 20 feet behind the teens at the fair — at their request — so she could supervise them without making it look like she was with them.

“All these kids are tight. They’re all friends,” Magruder said. “It’s a tragedy. I hope something positive comes out of it for all these kids. It’s a small school, a small community. Maybe it’s going to be a rude awakening.”